Lorde Heralds ‘Female Musicians’ After Calls for Women to ‘Step Up’

Lorde took out a full-page advertisement in a New Zealand newspaper Tuesday (January 30) in an apparent answer to the Grammys president's insistence that women were not celebrated at the 60th ceremony because they still need to "step up."

In a message plastered to the pages of the New Zealand Herald, Lorde thanked fans for their support surrounding her Album of the Year nomination for Melodrama. The message also included scribbles that said things like "JAY-Z’s hands are really soft” and “met Stevie Nicks + almost cried” and shout-outs to artists like Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

“Last night I saw a lot of crazy & wonderful things,” she wrote. “I just wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for loving & embracing Melodrama the way you did. My nomination belongs to you. Thank you, also, for believing in female musicians. You set a beautiful precedent!”

And followers championed the message — one wrote "Inconceivable that men are more valuable to the so called music industry as a whole..so why the seemingly obvious prejudice toward them."

Only 11 of the Grammys' 84 awards handed out in 2018 were to women, and only one woman's reception was televised. Recording Academy president Neil Portnow responded to subsequent criticism by saying that women needed to "step up" in future years, a comment that drew backlash from stars like Katy Perry, Halsey and more.